Stepping into the life and complex relationships of a young woman who has been dealing with a diagnosis of severe mental illness since she was a child is, admits Emily Liu, “super-challenging – but in all the best ways”.
The emerging performer is talking to InReview while in the middle of rehearsals for Theatre Republic’s upcoming production of Australian playwright Kendall Feaver’s The Almighty Sometimes, a play about illness, youth and recovery that premiered in the UK in 2018 and has earned a string of awards and glowing reviews.
Liu’s character, Anna, is 18, has recently finished high school and is dealing with typical teenage matters like figuring out what to do with her life and falling in love for the first time. She also has an unnamed mental illness that she has been taking medication for since she was 11. Now, Anna has decided to stop taking the pills, and it causes problems in her relationships with her mother, new boyfriend and therapist as her world begins to spiral.
“A lot of the story focuses on her relationship with her mum… Anna wants more agency and independence, and this creates conflict,” Liu explains.
“The play explores her desire to figure out who she is without her medication, so we see the consequences of that playing out.”
Simon Chandler and Emily Liu during rehearsals.
Theatre Republic’s previous works have included powerful dramas such as Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree and local playwright Emily Steele’s How Not to Make it in America, but this production – directed by artistic director Corey McMahon with a cast that also includes Tamara Lee, Simon Chandler and Anna Steen – is the largest work it has mounted since launching in 2018.
The South Australian theatre company has brought on board a psychologist (Adan Richards) to support the creatives and help ensure Anna’s illness is authentically portrayed, with McMahon noting that while mental illness is often used as a trope on stage, The Almighty Sometimes is “sensitive and raw and doesn’t pull its punches”.
Liu (previously seen in Windmill Theatre’s Hans and Gret) has also done her own research to learn as much as she can about the subject – reading books, taking a deep dive online, and watching documentaries, especially about mental health diagnoses in young people and the ethics around medicating children.
“It was really important for all of us to get a nuanced perspective on that and to challenge our own way of thinking…” she says, adding that the play sets out to present a well-rounded perspective without providing answers or telling audiences what to think.
It was after seeing stories in the media about the increasing diagnosis of mental health issues in young people – which some described as an epidemic – and then doing her own research that Kendall Fever was inspired to write The Almighty Sometimes. “The deeper I got into the issue, the less sure I was about it… that was actually a fantastic place to write the play from,” she said in an interview at the time of its premiere at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
Fever said that while it is “a big play” that is “full of very, very big ideas”, her way in was to write about a mother and daughter.
Emily Liu with Tamara Lee, who plays Anna’s mother in The Almighty Sometimes.
Despite its themes, Liu says The Almighty Sometimes “isn’t all doom and gloom”.
“There’s a lot of laughter and joy in it… the playwright has made every single character very three-dimensional. The mental illness is an aspect of Anna but she’s also very smart and funny… the play presents some very awkward yet real scenarios.”
One of Anna’s reasons for wanting to come off her meds is that she hopes to tap into her creativity. Liu explains that some of the stories her character wrote as a child are woven throughout the play, taking the audience into a more dreamy or imaginative space where they get a glimpse inside Anna’s head.
This multi-dimensional element of script is also highlighted by Corey McMahon, who can’t believe it hasn’t been staged in Adelaide previously.
“It’s a gorgeous, funny, heartfelt work that has so much to say about what it is to be young, to be a parent and to live with and alongside illness,” McMahon says.
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“It’s a cracking play that put writer Kendall Feaver on the map as a global force. I’m thrilled to be working with such an incredible team to bring it to life in Adelaide.”
Emily Liu hopes The Almighty Sometimes will encourage people to speak more freely about mental health.
“I would just love if it’s able to open up some really honest and compassionate conversations, especially within families.”
Theatre Republic will present The Almighty Sometimes at the Space Theatre from September 25-28.
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